CONTACTS: MICHAEL CATANIA, PRESIDENT or
JON WAGAR, VICE PRESIDENT FOR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS
CONSERVATION RESOURCES INC
PHONE: 908-879-7942
MICHAEL@CONSERVATIONRESOURCESINC.ORG
JON@CONSERVATIONRESOURCESINC.ORG |
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
|
Conservation Resources Inc Announces
$65,000 in Grant Awards
to 16 Exemplary Conservation Projects Throughout New Jersey
|
CHESTER, NJ, Nov. 2, 2006 - Conservation Resources Inc (CRI)
announced its first Small Grant awards to non-profit conservation
organizations totaling $65,000. "From urban centers like
Newark and Camden, to remote areas in the Pinelands and Warren
County, these grants are going to a diverse array of conservation
projects that demonstrate how non-profits are helping improve
water quality, restore damaged ecosystems, and improve the
quality of life in New Jersey," said Michael Catania,
President of Conservation Resources Inc. Of the sixteen different
funded projects, there are seven land preservation projects,
three land stewardship and/or ecological restoration projects,
and six other capital conservation projects located throughout
the Garden State.
The purpose of CRI’s small grants program is to provide
seed money for the initiation of land preservation projects,
to help cover certain costs which are not fully reimbursable
by other existing grant programs, such as appraisal and survey
expenses, and to provide matching funds to support non-profit
land stewardship and ecological restoration projects. Funding
for these small grants has been provided by the William
Penn Foundation, The
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the Victoria
Foundation, as well as individual donors.
"The work that is happening on-the-ground by New Jersey's
non-profit conservation community is incredible. Conservation
Resources Inc's small grants program helps to facilitate this
good work by strategically giving a relatively small amount
of conservation capital where it is really needed." said
Michael Catania, President of Conservation Resources Inc.
For more information and a map showing the sixteen projects
that were funded through CRI's Small Grants Program, please
click here.
Conservation Resources Inc (CRI) is a statewide non-profit
conservation organization. The mission of CRI is to increase
the capacity, expertise and technical and financial resources
available to private and public conservation organizations
in order to maximize the preservation of open space and farmland
in the Garden State.
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Bergen
Save our Watershed Action Network (SWAN)
River Vale Watershed Protection Projects |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
River Vale Township, Bergen County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
Bergen
Save the Watershed Action Network (Bergen SWAN) is working
to preserve 26 acres of forested watershed buffer lands on three
parcels in the Township of River Vale, NJ. Preservation of these
properties will play an important role in connecting and expanding
critical open space for Bergen County and the many adjoining
municipalities in the Northern and Pascack valleys. These properties
form part of the larger system of natural lands that protect
waters supply within the Hackensack River watershed and provide
critical habitat for wildlife in one of the most densely populated
regions of New Jersey.
The $5,000 grant from CRI's Small Grant Program will be used to help cover appraisal and other costs associated with negotiating the permanent preservation of these critical watershed properties. |
D&R
Greenway Land Trust
Saint Michael's Project |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
Hopewell Township, Mercer County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
D&R Greenway
Land Trust is leading the St.
Michael's Project, a magnificent 336.6 acre land preservation
project located in Hopewell Township, on the border of Hopewell
Borough. The property is a large tract of prime agricultural
land with streams and forested areas throughout. Formerly the
site of the St. Michael's Orphan Asylum, this property is currently
a key area for conservation. D&R Greenway Land Trust has
been coordinating funding and acquisition efforts between the
State Agricultural Development Committee, the County of Mercer,
the Township of Hopewell, the Borough of Hopewell, the NJDEP
Green Acres Program, and private donors. D&R Greenway has
incurred significant costs to permanently protect this historic
landscape, including but not limited to: survey, appraisals,
environmental studies, title, legal costs, demolition and site
cleanup in addition to costs related to the creation of site
plans.
The $3,000 Small Grant will be used to help cover these costs. |
Flat
Rock Brook Nature Association
A Walk in the Woods Exhibit |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
Englewood, Bergen County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project
|
Flat
Rock Brook Nature Association is creating "A Walk in
the Woods", a professionally designed and fabricated exhibit
planned for their Nature Center building. A Walk in the Woods
will be an indoor environmental education experience that is
an extension of their 150 acres of suburban wilderness. The
exhibit will offer a comprehensive, multi-media interpretation
of the surrounding natural landscape and its place in the community
and the wider world. Coordinated, interactive components will
explain the significance of a nature preserve in a highly developed
suburban area and address key environmental issues such as Flat
Rock Brook Center’s role in a regional watershed and management
of biodiversity.
The $3,000 Small Grant will be used as seed money to help design and realize Flat Rock Brook Nature Association's vision. |
Greater
Newark Conservancy
Prudential Outdoor Learning Center |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Newark, Essex County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
Greater
Newark Conservancy has overcome many major obstacles - fundraising
challenges, mitigating a contaminated site, and managing a major
construction project -- to substantially complete the Prudential
Outdoor Learning Center component of the Urban
Environmental and Ecological Center in downtown Newark.
This remarkable new facility creates a respite from the many
urban challenges found in New Jersey's largest city. It provides
critically needed open space, a pocket of habitat for small
wildlife and a wonderful venue for environmental education for
inner city schoolchildren. Although the doors of the Outdoor
Learning Center opened only a little more than two years ago,
its plantings have become lush and birds, butterflies, dragon
flies, and even a rabbit has taken up residence! This past year
the Conservancy hosted over 2,000 Newark schoolchildren to engage
in the interactive environmental education programming at the
site. Their bookings for the upcoming year are already exceeding
that figure. However, the full concept of the Center will not
be realized until they can complete the renovation of the Center's
Main Building and the adjacent former commercial building to
establish the full complement of indoor facilities. With this
completed space they will be able to serve a much larger number
of constituents.
The Conservancy will be using the $5,000 grant to help cover part of the non-reimbursable design fees for the Outdoor Learning Center. |
Heart
of Camden
Waterfront South Restoration Project |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Camden City, Camden County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration |
The
Waterfront South TreeKeepers' Nursery and Eve's Community Greenhouse
and Gardens (Eve's Garden) Project in the Waterfront South
neighborhood of Camden, NJ needs a "jump-start". A
modest amount of funding will assist the Heart
of Camden in creating the first community-based, pot-in-pot
tree nursery in the city, as well as making the first winter
season of greenhouse propagation in Waterfront South a warm
and watery reality. The nursery, greenhouse and gardens are
all part of the Heart of Camden's Waterfront South Restoration
Project. This project is focused on the comprehensive resolution
of problems that affect the quality of life (economy, equity
and environment) for residents in the community. The environmental
component to repairing the historic Waterfront South neighborhood
focuses on mitigating and addressing the environmental issues
that have contributed to the neighborhood's decline such as
air pollution, soil and water contamination and overall urban
ecosystem dysfunction. Currently, the primary purpose of this
project is air pollution mitigation and the revitalization of
contaminated sites through the implementation of the Environmental
Mitigation and Landscape Master Plan and local capacity building
through urban greening.
The $5,000 Small Grant will be used as “seed” funding to construct a fence and other infrastructure preparation for the urban tree nursery. |
Hunterdon
Land Trust Alliance
Frenchtown Greenbelt |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Frenchtown Borough, Hunterdon County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The
Frenchtown Greenbelt project involves the permanent preservation
of 150 acres of significant watershed land in Frenchtown, New
Jersey. The Hunterdon
Land Trust Alliance (HLTA) has taken the lead on this project
from initial contact with the landowners, to leveraging over
$4,000,000 in funding to facilitate the acquisition. Given this
is a large and complex project, they have engaged multiple partners,
including the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Green
Acres program, the County, and Frenchtown Borough. Once complete,
this project will have a very high profile in the community.
The Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance is in the “home stretch”
and coordinating the remaining steps needed to closing, including
a final survey. Closing is expected to occur in November 2006.
Once acquired, the land will be owned and managed by the State
Division of Parks and Forestry as an addition to the nearby
D&R Canal State Park. The property will be available to
the public for passive recreation such as hiking and fishing.
HLTA will use the $5,000 Small Grant to help cover the significant costs have been incurred with the Frenchtown Greenbelt project. |
Musconetcong
Watershed Association
River Resource Center |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Asbury, Franklin Township, Warren County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
The
Musconetcong Watershed Association’s (MWA) is creating
the River
Resource Center, a new headquarters as well as a teaching
tool for the entire community, located on the Musconetcong River
in Asbury. They plan to reuse a 2150 sq. ft. abandoned industrial
building, adapting it into a meeting hall with support space
for programs such as environmental and outdoor education, municipal
outreach, public workshops, stream cleanups, stream bank restoration,
well-testing and water quality monitoring. The river resource
center will be a beginning point for river-based recreation
activities: canoeing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, and nature
study. The building is being designed and renovated to achieve
the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design) certification. A “green”
structure will allow MWA to provide a physical example of their
mission to protect the watershed by demonstrating that applying
environmentally sound building and landscaping principles can
be practical, cost-effective, and a realistic approach that
can be incorporated into any project.
MWA will use the $5,000 Small Grant for design and engineering costs associated with creating their River Resource Center. |
Natural
Lands Trust
A Visitors Center for the Peek Preserve |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
Millville, Cumberland County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
In 1992, the Natural
Lands Trust of Media, PA established the Peek Preserve on
the banks of the federally-designated “Wild & Scenic”
Maurice River with an initial purchase of 201 acres. Subsequent
expansions have increased the Preserve’s size to 262 acres.
Currently, the field office and visitors center is in the old
Caretaker’s Residence which also serves as a part-time
visitor center. NLT must replace the existing structure because
it is in poor structural condition (the supporting framework
has extensive termite damage) and because the layout of this
former residence does not accommodate their current and planned
uses. The most cost effective alternative has been determined
to be construction of a visitors
center. The proposed project will demolish the existing
structure and replace it with an innovative passive and active
solar design field office with an attached publicly-accessible
observation deck. The planned facility will provide storage
for NLT’s fleet of 6 canoes and 12 kayaks, which are currently
being used for environmental education trips on the Maurice
River and other nearby waterways. A small conference room with
a view of the river and a connected observation deck will facilitate
small indoor and larger outdoor meetings and wildlife observation
experiences.
The $3,000 Small Grant will be used to help cover engineering and design fees for the new Visitors Center for the Peek Preserve. |
New
Jersey Audubon Society
Creating Economic Incentives for Native Grassland Restoration |
$1,200 Small Grant Award
Alpha Borough, Warren County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration |
With the reduction in grassland habitat and the
wildlife it supports, New Jersey is at a critical point in encouraging
landowners to become directly involved in ecological restoration
practices. New
Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) is the non-profit conservation
organization that has been leading the effort in the creation
of one such habitat - native grasslands. In order to make long-term
establishment of native grasslands sustainable, it must be economically
viable. Although native grasslands are not a typical hay crop
in NJ, they do have economic value. This includes its use as
a viable hay crop as well as its suitability as a cover crop
for soil erosion control. NJAS requested funding to promote
the benefits of native grasslands through the purchase of bales
of native grass hay to use as "demonstration" hay.
By purchasing and offering demonstration hay to local farmers,
NJAS hopes to demonstrate the economic viability of native grasses
to the farming community.
The $1,200 Small Grant will be used to purchase demonstration hay and demonstrate the economic viability of Native Grassland agriculture. |
New
Jersey Audubon Society
Native Seed Storage Unit |
$2,000 Small Grant Award
Cape May Court House, Cape May County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
Government and nonprofit organizations are addressing
the severe loss of native grassland habitat in two ways; through
aggressive land preservation efforts; and through good land
stewardship by restoring native grassland habitat. This
project is aimed at increasing the capacity for restoring native
grasslands throughout the state. New
Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) is seeking funding to construct
a warm-season
grassland seed storage facility at the Cape May Plant Material
Center (CMPMC), a facility owned and operated by the USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Cape May. The CMPMC
has one seed storage unit that is used to store and maintain
seeds used for various research and ecological restoration projects.
This unit supports native grassland restoration projects on
approximately 650 acres per year throughout New Jersey. Unfortunately,
the CMPMC facility has become excessively crowded with seed
material and the potential of improper seed storage has increased. Without
appropriate storage prior to use, seed germination rates decline
significantly while being stored. As a result, there is
a need to construct an additional seed storage unit at CMPMC.
The new storage unit would support an additional 400 acres of
grassland restoration per year.
New Jersey Audubon Society will be using the $2,000 Small Grant to help cover the cost of construction of new seed storage facility for native grassland restoration. |
Passaic
River Coalition
Gerhard Farm |
$3,500 Small Grant Award
Bernards Township, Somerset County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
Passaic River Coalition (PRC)was recently relocated
from their offices and found offices at Gerhard Farm Bernards
Township along a headwaters stream of the Passaic River.
They are going to be co-owners of Gerhard Farm with Bernards
Township and expect to close on the property late this Fall.
PRC will convert the stable and barn at Gerhard Farm so they
can be used for educational purposes. They hope to establish
an Advanced Environmental Education Center for college and graduate
students. As part of this program, a library will also
be established in the main house and in some of the out buildings.
The students will have opportunities to undertake research on
site or at any of the 24 properties currently owned by the PRC.
The $3,500 Small Grant will be used to help cover the cost of turning the Gerhard Farm into a new office and education center. |
Rancocas
Conservancy
Friendship Creek Preserve |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Tabernacle Township, Burlington County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The Friendship
Creek Preserve project will permanently protect 226 acres
along the headwaters of Friendship Creek - a tributary to the
Rancocas Creek. The Friendship Creek Preserve project
will mark the Rancocas Conservancy’s first preserve in
the southwestern portion of the watershed and their largest
preserve to-date.The property is dominated by a mix of hardwood
swamps and Atlantic white cedar forests with disperse upland
ridges of pitch pine forest. This property provides great opportunities
for nature trails and wildlife study. The Rancocas Conservancy
was founded in 1989 as a land trust and watershed association.
The Conservancy defined its focus as the watershed of the Rancocas
Creek, located in south-central New Jersey.
Rancocas Conservancy will use the $5,000 Small Grant for costs associated with acquisition of the Friendship Creek Preserve. |
Ridge
and Valley Conservancy
Stony Brook and Mountainwood Springs Land Preservation Projects |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Warren County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The
Ridge and Valley Conservancy is in the process of preserving
two important properties in northwestern New Jersey; the Mountainwood
Spring Property and the Stony Brook Property. The Mountainwood
Spring Property is in the core of Ridge and Valley Conservancy’s
Limestone Forest Project. It is a pristine woodland that
has escaped logging for over a half century. It hosts
a variety of rare plants associated with the limestone forest
and is a prime example of an intact mesic calcareous forest.
The property is the direct recharge area for Mountainwood Spring,
the second most prolific spring in the Ridge and Valley region.
The Stony Brook Property involves the acquisition in fee simple
of a 96 acre parcel along the headwaters of Stony Brook in Blairstown
Township, Warren County. Headwater areas are particularly
important in the watershed, as they provide clean, cool, ground-water
discharge to the larger stream systems. Permanent preservation
of these two properties will insure high water quality.
The Ridge and Valley Conservancy will be using the $5,000 Small Grant to help cover costs associated with the acquisition of these two properties. |
Tewksbury
Land Trust
Cold Brook Watershed Project |
$4,500 Small Grant Award
Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The Tewksbury Land Trust recently purchased the
37-acre Cold Brook Watershed Property, located in the Highlands
Preservation Area of Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County. It
is about 40% active agricultural land and 60% mature forest
with some steep slopes. A headwater stream of the Cold Brook,
a trout production stream, flows between the agricultural fields.
The property is part of a forest complex that provides habitat
for several threatened and endangered species. TLT has incurred
significant legal and other costs associated with the acquisition
of the Cold Brook Watershed Property.
Tewksbury Land Trust will use the $4,500 Small Grant to cover legal and other costs associated with the acquisition of the Cold Brook Watershed Property. |
Unexpected
Wildlife Refuge
Codario Farm Preservation Project |
$6,800 Small Grant Award
Buena Borough and Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The
Unexpected Wildlife Refuge is a 44-year old non-profit organization
dedicated to the preservation of Pinelands habitat for the protection
of indigenous flora and fauna. The Refuge supports upland
forests and wetlands and includes over a mile of Main Lake Branch,
a tributary of the Great Egg Harbor River. Acquisition and preservation
of the
Codario Farm expanded the Unexpected Wildlife Refuge by
127 acres. Approximately half of the Codario Farm is farm
fields and the rest oak and pine uplands and wooded wetlands.
The farm shares a property line with the Refuge that extends
for over 4,000 feet.
The $6,800 Small Grant Award will be used by Unexpected Wildlife Refuge to help cover appraisal and other costs associated with the acquisition of the Codario Farm. |
Weequahic
Park Association
Weequahic Lake Restoration |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
City of Newark, Essex County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration |
Weequahic Lake is the keystone feature in Weequahic
Park, one of the first urban parks in New Jersey.
Unfortunately, the lake has fallen into a state of advanced
disrepair over the past several years. To address the
problems of the lake, the Weequahic Park Association (WPA) has
developed a comprehensive plan for restoration and revitalization
called the Weequahic Lake Restoration Project. This plan
is broken down into phases, some of which have already been
completed. So far, WPA has spent several million dollars
in government and foundation grant funding to implement the
first phases of the project. The WPA is going to be preparation
a non-native invasive plant control plan. Creating the plan
is the next step to implementing of the Weequahic Lake Restoration
Project and an essential component for the continuation of this
important urban restoration protect.
The Weequahic Park Association will be using the $3,000 Small Grant Award to help pay the costs of a non-native invasive plant species control plan, a critical step in their ongoing lake restoration initiative. |
